Sports
Mark Appel, was drafted number one overall by the Phillies
(CTN News) – It was Mark Appel who was selected first in 2013 ahead of Kris Bryant and Jon Gray
It was announced by the Phillies Friday night that they would be calling up former number one overall pick Mark Appel. Appel confirmed the news on his social media pages.
With this, Mark Appel concludes a journey that has taken so many turns along the way. He was drafted by the Tigers out of high school in 2009, but he chose to attend Stanford instead. As one of the top pitchers in college baseball, he fell to the Pirates at the eighth overall pick in 2012 due to expectations he wouldn’t sign. Along with Kris Bryant and Jon Gray, he was considered one of an elite trio of collegiate prospects heading into the 2013 draft. The Astros would take him first overall, while the Cubs would take Bryant second, and the Rockies would take Gray third.
2014 was an unsuccessful year for Appel, who posted a 9.74 ERA in 12 starts in High-A. In 2015, he pitched in the Arizona Fall League and was more mediocre than bad in Double-A and Triple-A.
However, Appel wasn’t ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects by the spring of 2016 (Bryant, meanwhile, had won Rookie of the Year and was entering his MVP season, causing the general public to view Appel as a bust). When Ken Giles was traded to the Astros, he was acquired by the Phillies.
In 2017, Appel was designated for assignment and outrighted off the Phillies’ 40-man roster. As a result, he retired from baseball, but he avoided using the word “retired.”
As of 2021, Appel has made a comeback. Overall, he pitched to a 6.06 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 15 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A.
In Triple-A, however, Appel has a 1.61 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 24 strikeouts in 28 innings. In relief, he has recorded five saves and five wins without taking a single loss. If he sticks and finds his way to meaningful innings, this could be an excellent, feel-good story. Although he is unlikely to be a high-leverage reliever for the Phillies initially, they’ve sometimes had late-inning problems, so there is a chance for him to be a great feel-good story.
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